


Do You Even Care?

by TheOneAndOnly1993



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Drama, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-06
Updated: 2016-09-06
Packaged: 2018-08-13 10:46:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7973974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOneAndOnly1993/pseuds/TheOneAndOnly1993
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pearl and Amethyst have always been at each other's throats, but this is too far. When Steven is critically injured in battle, he goes inside his gem to regenerate. Pearl is worried sick, as he is half-human, Garnet failed her team, and Amethyst's apparent apathy of the whole thing isn't making it any better. It's only a matter of time before the words turn to punches...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dance

**Author's Note:**

> This will take place at a time after 'Alone At Sea'.
> 
> When I first wrote this story, Steven and Amethyst were trying to form a fusion I made up called Topaz. She does not form, so it does not matter in the long run. The main point is the drama it causes. As for Topaz herself, I buy into the theory, at least for this story, that Steven himself will make unique Gems when fused. So Smoky Quartz doesn't contradict the beginning of this story too badly.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another day in Beach City

Another average day in Beach City.

 _Another boring day, more like,_ thought Steven as he stepped out onto the balcony. He saw the waves ahead, lapping and foaming against the soft sandy shore. The sun was beginning to make its slow decent behind the ocean horizon, rendering it a sheet of beaten copper. It made him think of Lapis. Looking out upon it, smelling the salty air that always blew in from the sea, a little smile played across Steven's lips.

"Boring isn't so bad," he thought optimistically. "We need a break after what happened with Lapis." Steven sank into the cushioned seat to his left, and kicked his feet up against the railing. "Wonder how she's getting along with Peridot..."

"Hey Steven!"

The boy was given a start, then he turned to find Amethyst standing in the doorway. "Hey, Amethyst!" he said, waving. "What's up?"

The Gem coolly leaned against the doorway, folding her thick arms. "Not much," she replied, all sly-like. "Just thinking..."

 _Oh, no!_ he thought. _She's talking in that way that makes me want to know more!_ Steven leaned in closer, grinning wide. "About...?"

Amethyst allowed herself a wolfish smile; she always knew how to play Steven, not that the boy in question particularly cared. "About those sick moves you did the other day!" she explained. "The way you were able to just summon your shield like that was _so_ cool." Steven blushed at the praise, thinking back to the fight with Lapis. He didn't even know what he was doing, truth be told. He just wanted to protect Connie and, well, the shield just sort of happened.

"So that got me thinking," Amethyst continued. "And after a lot of thought, I think you're ready..."

Steven's fingers dug into his palms. "Yes...?" he whispered loudly.

"To..."

"To...?" Steven echoed, elation rising in tandem to the lingering tension.

Amethyst stood straight, hands behind her back, and uttered one, simple, magic word: " _Fuse."_

Steven's jaw would have hit the floor if it could. "You mean it!?" he gasped. The Gem gave a smile that would've turned water to ice, and nodded. "Oh, thank you thank you _thank you_ Amethyst!" Steven shot up from his seat to pull her into a tight hug.

"Okay buddy," Amethyst laughed awkwardly, pushing Steven away. "That's enough hugging. Come on! Let's get down to the beach."

A fair distance away from the beach house was where Steven and Amethyst decided to train. Steven took a wide stance, his face etched with a poor attempt at being serious that was betrayed by his great enthusiasm, and thus, a dopey looking smile was glued to the twelve-year-old's face. The waves ebbed in and out, licking his bare feet. Amethyst stood adjacent to him, though she kept her white boots on herself.

"Okay, Am!" hollered Steven. "So who are we forming? What's the dance? Is she as awesome as Sugilite?"

Amethyst snickered at the barrage of questions she was receiving. "One at a time, cowboy! We're forming Topaz." she explained. "She's what your mom and I Fused into."

A pink glow grew in Steven's cheeks. "M-My mom?" he murmured, right arm moving up his belly and gripping his shirt tight.

"Yep! And she's pretty cool, I guess. Not as cool as Sig, of course, but she's still pretty rad."

Hearing this, Steven's entire body trembled with excitement. He just couldn't believe it. Today, _to-day,_ he was going to fuse! And with Amethyst, the coolest cat in Beach City to boot! _"So what's the dance?"_ he almost screamed.

Amethyst couldn't help but grin from ear-to-ear at the boy's enthusiasm. _He's_ really _into this,_ she thought. It actually made the brash Gem feel a tad honored. Initially, Amethyst was only doing this to get under Pearl's skin (how, well, that's coming up in a minute), but now she felt that something like this, Steven's first crack at Fusing, should be really special.

"Alright Steven, no jokes!" she hollered, now completely honest (though Steven was blissfully unaware that this started out as a little joke). "I'll show you the dance first, then you copy, and then we'll try it together. Ready?"

"Ready!"

Before starting, Amethyst's last thought before losing herself to the dance was, _Man, now I kinda wish we set up a little farther away from the beach house._

The Gem shook the thought out of her head, clearing her mind of the world around her so the only thing that was real was the steady _thump-thump_ of an electronic bass hammering away in her head. Then she got down. Amethyst's eyes flittered shut, put her hands on her knees, and began to roll her hips. She did it slow, methodically, lovingly in a way, like she were right up against a partner at the local night club; every rotation of her rear synced perfectly with the rhythm of the music blaring in her head. Then Amethyst brought her feet together, pretending her own whip had them lassoed so they wouldn't come apart. Amethyst rose her hands above her head, clasping them together, and began to slowly rock her hips side to side. She could feel it, in her core: her gem, she could feel its energy growing, pulsing, the pulses that she hadn't felt since she last did this with Rose Quartz, almost thirteen years ago. It was ready, she sensed, but it still needed a partner. It needed -

" _Steven Universe!"_

Amethyst actually yelped a little, she was so lost in her own little world and yanked back into reality. Reality was no fun at all; there was sand everywhere, and ocean water soaking her boots, and Pearl of course stomping her way across the beach with murderous intent in her icy-blue eyes.

"Oh, boy." Amethyst rolled her eyes. "Here comes the Officer Killjoy." When she looked to Steven, the boy had a disheartened look on his face. She frowned, pitying the poor kid, which in turn sparked a little anger at Pearl, for both ruining her buzz and Steven's too.

" _What_ do you think you are doing, Amethyst?" Pearl seethed, skinny arms folded over her skinny chest.

Hands on her hips, Amethyst replied with her usual sass, "Uh, teaching Little Monster here how to Fuse into Topaz. What else?"

Pearl's face turned to blue it may have been ice. " _Topaz!?_ " she screeched like a hawk. _Heh, a bird,_ mused Amethyst's wandering mind, though outwardly she actualy flinched under the grating harshness of Pearl's voice. "I thought we agreed, _Amethyst_ , that if we were to ever teach Steven how to Fuse it wouldn't be until he's much, _much_ older! The mental strength it takes to Fuse is _well beyond_ that of a twelve-year-old boy. And even if he _was_ ready, that dance is - ! Is...!"

 _Okie, I'm tuning out now._ Amethyst proceeded to simply watch Pearl's flapping lips with a glazed look in her eye, but hearing only static come out of those flappers. _It's like watching two slugs do it,_ mused the Gem.

But after listening to the static for longer than she endure, Amethyst gave Pearl the most bitter of scowls she could form and muttered amidst her rambling, "Rose never had a problem doing it."

Pearl's face turned completely teal, looking ready to explode right then and there. "Did Steven actually see how it _ends_?" she asked through gritted teeth. "Did you show him what his mother did _every time_ she wanted to form Topaz?"

"No," the stockier Gem replied flatly. "You stopped me before I could. Besides, what's the big deal? All's we do is get close, I get my trunk up in his ju - oh, wait..." Amethyst stopped herself, rubbing her chin in thought as she worked out the rest of the Fusion in her head. Picturing it, Amethyst actually started to understand what has Pearl so upset. But even so... "Well that shouldn't matter anyway!" she proclaimed. "We didn't go through with it, P. And even if we did, why is that such a bad thing? He's too young to know what we'd be doing! To him it's...it'd be like another hug!"

Pearl's mouth dropped open, followed by her throwing her head back, and a loud groan bursting from her lips. She moved two fingers up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "The fact that you're actually trying to rationalize this..."

"He wouldn't have gotten hurt or anything," Amethyst insisted, turning away from the taller Gem so she was facing Steven; the poor kid wasn't even listening, he was just sitting there in the sand, building a muddy sandcastle. _I'm gonna knock that over and then we'll have a sand fight!_ she fantasized. In her mind, this conflict with Pearl was already dead and buried.

But that nagging witch just had to have her claws in her. "It's not just that, Amethyst!" She grabbed her by the shoulder. "It's the constant disregard for Steven's well-being! You're always doing stuff that could make him - "

 _I'm done with this._ "Into what?" she snapped. "A man? He's a big kid, and you can't mother him forever, Mother Hen!"

Pearl's hand moved to stifle a ladylike gasp. "Are you making fun of my nose?"

"Maybe I am!" snarled Amethyst, aggressively taking a step forward.

Pearl did the same, fists forward. "You are just the - "

"Guys! _Guys!_ We've got big problems!"

Both Amethyst and Pearl ceased their bickering to look in the direction of the voice. There they saw Garnet standing at the balcony, just a red-and-black speck in the distance.

Steven ran past, running as quickly as his little boy legs would allow. "Coming Garnet!"

Amethyst was about to race him, but before she could take even one step forward she felt Pearl's iron grip latch around her wrist. She glared at her through the bangs of her silver hair. "We're continuing this conversation when we get back," Pearl said in a disciplinary tone.

" _Fine._ Now let me go!" Amethyst tugged at her arm, but Pearl had the hold of, well, an overprotective mother.

" _All of us,_ " she finished. With that, Pearl let go and began to make her way to the beach house, her long, thin legs making long strides across the powdered earth. Amethyst followed slow a fair distance away, dreading the "Family Meeting" as Pearl liked to call them that would follow up the mission.


	2. Spelunking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems discover something new.

Garnet did say they were going into a cave, but Steven never expected something like _this._

It was a short walk from their warp pad. The cave was built into the muddy brown rock of a mountain, the stone guarding the entrance was jagged and uneven, arranged in such a way, that it would be difficult for passers by to spot. The whole area was like a kingdom, Steven mused, a kingdom from the fantasy stories he was so fond of. The mountain was the only one of its kind for miles around, its entire perimeter instead enveloped in a sea of pine trees.

Steven was having the time of his life just walking to the mountain, drinking in every root that snaked through the moist, dark earth, the sunlight occasionally breaking through the evergreen sky, it all painted this very surreal picture for him. But inside the cave was when things got awesome, for as he watched Garnet punch the entrance to smithereens, Steven assumed it was dark, and was preparing to reach inside his cheeseburger backpack and pull out a little glow stick. Before he could do so Garnet said to him without looking, "You won't need that."

Intrigued, Steven advanced ahead of the group, despite Pearl's protests. " _Woah_..." he cooed at the sight before him. Rooted throughout the cavern and bearding its walls were thousands upon thousands of bulb-shaped flowers, all of them emitting a natural but also alien-looking emerald glow. They lit every square inch of the place,,revealing to Steven a cavern that actually looked _bigger_ than the mountain that housed it, and the eerie color bouncing off every surface made him feel like he was in a science-fiction movie.

Emerald sparkles glistened in Steven's big soft eyes. "This place is _neat_."

"This place is dangerous," said Garnet, finally catching up beside him. "These flowers are from our home planet, and have been growing here since before we arrived here on Earth."

"And what about them makes this place so dangerous?"

"It's not the flowers themselves that makes it threat." Pearl gestured her entire arm to the space before them. "It's what could be in here. There's something feeding these flowers the oxygen and special energy needed to flourish and grow. Whatever it is, it's likely from our own planet."

All their talk of flowers and the Gems' home planet made Steven think of his mother, kind and gentle to a fault, and seeing the beauty in everything around her. "That doesn't sound so bad," he said, all smiles and positivity. "You guys get to see something from your home! That doesn't sound bad at all."

"It is." With that, Garnet started walking with the rest of the team in tow.

As they descended deeper into the cavern, the atmosphere became damper and colder. The clammy air all around made Steven glad he brought his hoodie on this mission as he hugged it closer to his body.

Not long after they started their journey, Amethyst started being herself.

Steven heard her quick, heavy footfalls that matched his come up from behind. "Hey, Steven," she whispered, "let's have a rock-climbing race up that wall. First one to fall is a big loser." Of course she was joking about that last part, and Steven knew it too, but it still managed to get the stakes to feel a lot higher.

"You're on!" the boy said.

Pearl had to grab both Gems by the scruffs of their shirts to keep them from barreling ahead. "Oh, _no_. This place looks unstable enough without you natural disasters jumping around like a circus act."

"Aw, come on, P!" whined Amethyst. She fought against Pearl's hold. "If this place has some huge monster in it or whatever, I'm sure it can handle a couple of scrappy kids like us."

"Yeah, come on, Pearl!" added Steven. "I never get to climb on rocks!"

"Steven, I saw you and Amethyst hopping rocks at the beach just yesterday." Pearl spread her arms out wide. "We have rocks all over the place! We _live_ in a rock for Pete's sake!"

Steven shook his head, countering in his own childish way, "Yeah, but not _cave_ rocks!"

Pearl wanted to smack herself in the forehead as she watched the Dynamic Duo exchange a fist-bump with Amethyst muttering ' _Nailed it.'_

"Pearl is right," Garnet said, coming up from the rear; she had her fingertips pressed against her temples. "I'm sensing instability in the structural integrity of this cavern. We should be careful when the fighting starts." She paused herself, and then returned from looking off to the side with a faint smile on her lips. "Though I am sure it can handle you two. You have my permission to go on ahead, but keep an eye out for anything suspicious."

"Yes!" Steven pumped his fist in the air, then ran off with Amethyst effortlessly sprinting by. "Thanks Garnet!" he called back, voice rolling in the vast emptiness of the emerald-lit cave.

Pearl's fingers sank into her thighs, so hard they pressed that her bare skin went from milky-white to a dark blue. "Garnet, don't patronize me in front of Steven!" Pearl hissed when the smaller Gems were out of earshot. "What if they get lost? What if they get trapped by whatever we're trying to find in here? What if Steven gets hurt? What if _she_ gets him hurt? Oh, so help me there's no force on this planet that will stop me from destroying Amethyst if she gets Steven's gem cra-"

"Pearl." Garnet put a lone finger to Pearl's thin lips and _hushed_ , then grabbed her gently by her knobbly shoulders. "Relax. Amethyst is reckless, but she would never intentionally put Steven in any real danger."

"' _Intentionally',_ " Pearl bitterly muttered.

Garnet did not look at all amused; then again, she never did. "I mean it, Pearl. Amethyst is your equal, and you are no better than she is. We are a team, equals, and one of these days you're going to have to start treating her like one." Pearl cast her gaze aside, suddenly ashamed to look Garnet in her visor. "The same goes for Steven," she added. "You cannot coddle him forever, Pearl. I know, you care for him. I do too. But he should also learn to care of himself. The boy is almost thirteen years old. Let him start acting like it." With that, Garnet released her firm but tender hold on Pearl, and left her there to stride down the uneven path Steven and Amethyst had ran through.

 _Thirteen years..._ Pearl honestly could not believe it's been that long. _It feels like only yesterday we brought him home from the hospital in his father's van._ The van that was silent, almost deathly so, apart from the quiet burbles of the unnamed newborn and party's individual sobs.

"Pearl! Garnet! We found something suspicious!" Steven's voice; it came from deeper into the cavern, a faint echo, but it was enough to rip Pearl from her daydreams and get her to follow the sound of his voice.

When she finally caught up after squeezing through a tight passageway, Pearl found herself and the rest of her team in a massive cavern, even larger than the entrance and covered near-completely with _millions_ of those emerald tulips. The place looked as big as two, no, _three_ airport hangers, it was so large and empty. A shallow creek running in from behind the walls on their far right wove through the place in its entirety, an emerald vein splitting the stone slab of a floor in two. To put it in simple terms, the whole place looked just downright gorgeous, a place Rose would love to spend the rest of her life in, if she could.

Pearl dragged her eyes over all the little beauties bearding the cave walls, wondering to herself what was so "suspicious" about this place. "It's beautiful," she said, turning to Amethyst, "but how does this pertain to anything relating to the mission?"

Amethyst rose a brow, smirking her trademark smirk. "You blind, P? Check out all the loot back there!" Amethyst pointed a finger towards across the cavern, and admittedly, it was quite the sight.

At the far end of the cavern, pushed up against the wall, was a huge mound of gemstones, so big it was that it almost touched the grey stalactites hanging low from the ceiling. They all sparkled and twinkled as they should be in the tulips' glow, a horde of colors alternating from red rubies and pink rose quartz, blue sapphires and gold topazes and many, many more.

Despite the alluring spell the horde admittedly had, Pearl looked away from it to give Amethyst the best deadpan she could muster. "Treasure?" She put her hands on her hips. "You want to bring all that back to your mess of a room?"

Amethyst simply smiled and shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? I've got a passion for the little things." At her side, Steven snickered into his hand.

Pearl scowled; she knew Amethyst was just trying to antagonize her. Luckily, Steven at least had the grace to take this mission somewhat seriously. "We were wondering why there's a bunch of gems back here. Do you think this is the monster's den? Does it use them as a bed or something?"

"Could be," said Garnet. "Let's find out."

The Crystal Gems made their way across the cavern, every one of them turning their heads, gazing about in search of anything unusual. When crossing the little stream, Pearl opted to gingerly step over it, but not before Amethyst got the idea to leap in and slam her feet into the water as hard as she could. Garnet was soaked all the way up her legs, though she ignored it as though it were no more than the bite of a fly and kept on walking. Pearl's skinny legs took the brunt of the splash, as was likely Amethyst's intentions, and she did glare at the cheekily-smiling Gem, yet she couldn't get angry; not when this happened before, and much worse, that time they were retrieving the Heaven Beetle and Steven kept pestering the two to form Opal, and Amethyst scared her into falling in the river.

When they neared the end of the cavern, and the mound of gems turned into a mountain of gems, Garnet stopped in place at the head of the pack, her arm stretched out. "Did you feel that?" she asked, a slight urgency in her tone. Everyone shook their heads, each displaying a varied look of unease. Were they fighting a burrower? In a place like this, that could be really bad.

The stone beneath their feet quivered and quaked all of a sudden, so mighty and unexpected it was that Steven lost his footing and fell forward on his hands. While Amethyst helped him up, Garnet summoned her gauntlets. "Stick together! Keep your eyes on the walls!" At her command, Amethyst yanked out her whip, making it snap sharply against the floor; Pearl drew her spear, allowing it to float for a second before snatching it out of the air and twirling it between her fingers. A bright flash of pink, and Steven had his shield latched to his forearm; he smacked an open palm against it, a little boy scowl plastered on his face. The team got together, standing in a circle with their backs to one another's, every one of their eyes darting about the shuddering emerald flowers on the walls and small stones bouncing at their feet.

Garnet suddenly called out, "The gem horde!" and turned towards it with her fists raised; her teammates joined her, each hiding behind their weapons with their faces set and rigid. A depression grew upon the pile, deepening and deepening in tune with the increasing tremors; gemstones that didn't sink into the horde rolled down like hundreds of multicolored snowballs, with many rolling and bouncing past the Crystal Gems' feet.

The first thing to emerge from the pile was a head, sharp as an arrowhead with huge beak like a parrot's, likely made for crushing gemstones. Within its thick plumage of brown, six eyes peered out, each one as orange as the most brilliant sunset. The Gems heard Garnet take in a sharp breath of air when the beast first emerged, and then they all flinched when she hollered, " _Reaver!"_

As if answering to its name, the monster threw its head back, beak open, and released a sound-splintering cry into the emptiness of the cavern; it was a horrible noise, a horrible noise for a horrible creature, trembling and quivering and shrilling all at once like a babe ripped from its mother's arms. Only this monster had no mother, not since the Gems' home planet was abandoned, and it certainly was no babe. It was a killer, a nightmare of children's stories only it was real, so very real, and not of this world, for this was a Crystal Reaver, a devourer of Gems' Stones.

"How?!" Pearl cried. "How is one _here?!"_

"Back! Get back!" Garnet ordered.

She instantly turned heel and broke into a hard sprint back across the cavern with Pearl and Amethyst in tow. "Wait guys!" poor Steven cried, already sweating and beginning to slow under the weight and constriction of his hoodie. He ran as hard and fast as his little boy legs would allow, occasionally steeling a glimpse over his shoulder to find the Crystal Reaver bursting forth from its gemstone nest, long hooked forelegs sprung out and scattering colored rock all about the cavern in a storm of emerald twinkles, many flying over Steven's head as he ran.

Steven looked over his shoulder again, and shrieked in horror as he saw the feathered monstrosity open its beak wide and displaying a mass of glowing energy swirling about in the back of its maw. When it fired, Steven screamed.

"Steven!?" Pearl finally turned, joining the rest of her teammates at the end of the cavern, and to the scene before her cried out his name again: _"STEVEN!"_

Little Steven was standing his ground, yet to even cross the little stream, his shield out in front of him and staring and hollering all warlike in the face of death itself as he fought against the blast of energy firing in a constant stream from the Reaver's horrible maw. The beast itself was posed, its hooked forelegs angled into the stone and locking it in place. It thrust its feathered head forward, and Steven cried out and was pushed back, shield trembling against the force of the attack but holding in place.

 _"Steven!"_ The Gems burst forth into a massive sprint, pumping their legs even harder than before, each pair of eyes frozen over the little thing crumpled to one knee and fending off a blast of pure crystal energy. Pearl couldn't help herself but be furious, with herself and her fellow teammates. "I thought you had him!" she screamed.

Huffing at her right, Amethyst countered sharply with, " _You're_ the mother hen! I'm still trying to get over the fact that one of these freaky monsters somehow made it _off planet!_ "

"Both of you, _stop fighting!"_ Garnet snapped. With that, the Crystal Gem leapt forward into a crouch, and with the momentum of her sprint launched into the air, arcing over the beast that was seemingly occupied with Steven. Garnet soared like a living spear, one fist out and aimed for the empty space between the Reaver's eyes. The rest of her teammates could only watch in anger as the Reaver suddenly snapped its beam from Steven to Garnet with the ease of breathing air. The Gem was blasted back, smoldering and smoking and skidding to a painful stop on the other side of the cavern.

"Garnet!" Steven's voice strained to cry out; as though simply speaking were a great effort, the boy collapsed to his hands and knees, groaning tiredly, his shield dissipating into nothing.

He moaned when a pair of long, thin arms pulled him into a stranglehold. "Steven!" Pearl cried, hugging him close. "Steven, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he groaned. "Yeah, I'm good. Just...just gimme five." He held up five fingers; Pearl didn't understand the gesture, taking it as a sign to grab his hand and help him up. Steven was on his feet again, aside from a bit of panting he seemed to be okay.

"P! We got big trouble!" came Amethyst's voice. Pearl turned towards the Gem and found her transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. With a scruffy roar, she charged for the Reaver. The monster growled and slammed its entire body into Amethyst, knocking her back. A T-Rex was knocked off the ground, but landed as a round girl sliding to a stop near Pearl and Steven.

Pearl turned to Steven, then Amethyst as the girl leapt to her feet; her face was as solid as the stone beneath her feet, and when Pearl spoke then there was not a trace of warmth or love to be found: "Amethyst, take Steven and return to the warp pad."

"Oh, what?" Steven whined. "I want to stay, and fight and help you guys!"

The Reaver's sharp roar trembled the cavern around them, and some errant stones began falling from the ceiling and crashing into small boulders. " _Steven,_ do as your told!" Pearl snapped over the chaos. "These things have killed _hundreds_ back on our home planet. Taking one down required the skill of a _high-ranked Gem,_ and you are _NOT_ a high-ranked Gem!"

Tears beaded Steven's eyes, likely more out of harshness of kind Pearl's voice than the brutal honesty of her words; as she ranted and raved and effectively terrified the sensitive little boy, Pearl hoped that he realized she was speaking out of fear for his life, and not anger towards him: "Do you want your life sucked from your gem in the most unfathomably painful way possible?! Do you really want that!?" With fear etched into his face and a hand covering his belly over the area where his gem was, Steven shook his head. "Then _go!_ " Pearl didn't mean to sound so stern, especially when she saw a few tears roll down the boy's face, but this was no time for a debate.

Thankfully, Amethyst for once seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. "Come on little guy," she murmured gently, hand on his shoulder, "we should probably go."

_Thank you, Amethyst._

And then Steven started walking forward.

"Steven, _NO!"_ Pearl screamed. When she looked to the Reaver, it had its three pairs of eyes closed, but a long, thin one opened up between the two rows. The pinprick of black in its orange ire was looking right at Steven, unblinking, unmoving.

"Guys!" Steven cried. "I-I can't! I can't stop moving my legs! _Help!"_

A cold hand closed shut around Pearl's heart. _No...he's so young and inexperienced, no wonder it's already happened._ "Steven!" she cried. "Just...just hold on! Just..." Pearl then saw Garnet sprinting back towards her and Amethyst, and the latter transforming herself into a giant lavender python with an amethyst grafted into its pale underbelly. And then she got a horrible, desperate idea. "Wait, _wait,_ Garnet! Amethyst! We-We need Sugilite!"

"Sugilite!?" Amethyst changed back to her normal form, giving Pearl a panicked look that kept flicking back to Steven. "P, you sure that's a good idea?"

"Guys!" Steven called over his shoulder. "Can you save me, please? This guy's looking a little hungry!"

Pearl shrieked hysterically and turned back to Garnet and Amethyst, hands over her mouth and terror in her eyes. Thankfully, the taller Gem voiced Pearl's reasoning when she could not: "We need Sugilite, Amethyst," Garnet explained, breathless and urgent. "She can defeat a Reaver with just her brute strength alone. But we need to move, _now."_

Pearl expected Amethyst to start cheering and whooping like the immature fool that she was, but it would seem that Steven's life was a more pressing matter, for with a "deer in the headlights" look at Pearl she and Garnet wordlessly sprinted back down the passage they came in from, to urgently perform the dance that would call forth the second most terrifying opponent Pearl has ever fought.

_The first is right here._

"Unhand him!" Pearl cried. Drawing a second spear from her gem, she broke into a sprint, so fast she felt that she was like to break the sound barrier. Steven was only halfway across the cavern when Pearl ran by, spears stiff at her sides and slicing through the air. When she closed enough distance with the Reaver, Pearl leapt at the giant insect with a kick off the ground, spears poised for a mighty thrust.

She was aiming for one of the beast's six eyes, to try and distract the beast and buy time for Sugilite to arrive. But it was a vain effort, Pearl knew, for the Reaver's mind-controlling eye, the very one she was aiming for, swiveled in its socket towards her and faster than she could blink and it swatted her into the tulip-coated wall with a swing of its oversized foreleg. Such is the incredible perception of Reavers, Pearl recalled, which led to the death of many pest control Gems back on their home planet, where thousands of these damned creatures roamed.

Ignoring the pain blazing in her side from where the Reaver hit her, Pearl used the opportunity to launch herself off the wall, spears forward, imagining herself an arrow loosed from Opal's greatbow, deadly and brilliant and strong enough to save Steven. The monster sensed her coming, and rose on of its massive, arched forelegs to swing at her. But Pearl was ready this time, and she was able to swing herself under and over the beast's leg, and use the momentum to launch herself towards its eye.

 _Twang!_ went her spears, not even scratching the Reaver's hard carapace when it shut its assaulted eye. It then threw its head back and Pearl along with it. She let one spear fall to cling to the emerald mesh on the walls. _Curse this monster!_ _Where is Sugilite?!_ Breathless, tired and tearful, Pearl looked hopelessly at the Reaver as its eye back to Steven, truly acting as though Pearl were just no more than a pest. She gripped her spear for another inevitably-futile attack. _  
_

_FWOOM!_

Stone and dead, twisted flowers sprayed forth from the opposite end of the cavern, and the power of the eruption was enough to break the Reaver's concentration and its hold over Steven. The dust cloud filled the cavern completely, and Pearl had to squeeze her eyes shut so they wouldn't sting. But it cleared, as quickly as it came, and Pearl was both terrified and coldly relieved at what stood facing the Reaver:

Five stories, twenty-two hundred pounds of cocksure pride and bullheaded anger stood in the opening, a big stone fist slung over her shoulder, and an emerald glint bouncing off her dark shades. Steven, freed, began running towards her, screaming her name in joy, but his words were drowned out immediately when the Reaver screamed. The Fusion's lowermost hands went to her hips, the upper-right hoisting her weapon, and the free one pointing at the monster.

"So I heard you were trying to eat my number one fan." Sugilite _tsk_ 'd and _tsk'_ d, then hurled her giant stone fist towards the Reaver.


	3. Jawbreakers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sugilite mashes it up.

She thought it would hit; Pearl actually believed Sugilite's stone fist would smash that monster right in its hideous face. But even that proved too good to be true, for just as the shadow of the five-ton rock shrouded the Reaver's gawking face, and Pearl's heart threatened to leap from her chest, its feathered head jerked to the right with impossibly-quick reflexes, and it threw its entire body down unto what remained of its gem horde, landing on all fours. The only thing her fist managed to destroy was some of the stone wall and the flowers that grew upon it. _  
_

Still in position, the Reaver cocked its head at Sugilite all wolfish-like and let out a screech, its wide eyes betraying the intimidation it likely felt at seeing such an imposing foe enter the fray. With a single tug of its rope, the fist went flying back towards Sugilite and she caught it in her two topmost hands. A cocky smirk played across the fusion's plump lips. "You're a quicky, ain'cha? Don't worry, I'll go slow... _keh keh keh._ " The Reaver let out another roar, the feathers around its neck bristling. Slinging her weapon over her shoulder, Sugilite leaned over a little and gestured her head to the mound of gemstones the beast was perched upon. "You got alotta mula, baby. Tryna compensate for somethin'?"

Normally, Pearl would huff and groan and roll her eyes like two pin-balls towards Sugilite's crude jests, but she actually did make a point. _How many of those are actual Gems?_ Pearl shuddered to think; there were just so many, it was such a dizzying thought. Pearl almost lost her grip on the emerald tulips, she became so dazed. But once she shook her head, her eyes gravitated to Steven. He was way over yonder, dashing over the little stream and running to Sugilite with such energy that one would think he was going to the candy store.

Sugilite seemed to have finally noticed Steven herself, despite her eyes being hidden behind shades, the Fusion's head tilted ever so slightly down at the little speck crying out her name, and her cocksure smile broadened. "You know who this is, bozo?" she asked rather aggressively.

The Reaver let out a rather wimpy, almost hesitant-sounding bray, and shuffled a bit within its gem pile. _What's it doing?_ Pearl watched the whole scene play out as she swung her whole body along the wall, grabbing at every vine and her foot jamming into every groove. _It couldn't be...afraid, could it? Of Sugilite? No...no, Reavers fear nothing, even when on the brink of death they fight tooth and nail._

"This's my boy, Steven," Sugilite replied; her arrogance was amplified tenfold in this void of a cavern, and the Reaver continued to shuffle around a bit. "He's that number one fan of mine you were tryna eat. Tsk-tsk, baby. And now look, you're just a scared little pup now that someone your own size is here. I'm gonna enjoy pummlin' your ass into the ground," she mocked with glee.

Pearl froze upon the wall when she saw the faint glow emanating from the back of the Reaver's maw, so dull it was that even she would have missed it if it weren't the very thing she was keeping an eye on. But when Pearl saw the beast's eyes keep going back from Sugilite to Steven, a cold hand seized her throat.

And a scream tore through it:

_"SUGILITE!"_

"Huh?" For a brief second, behind those shades, Pearl and Sugilite's eyes met; only for a second, however. But in that instance, Pearl sensed a familiar animosity that she and the Fusion had shared not too long ago; in the one eye Pearl could see, nestled between Sugilite's brows, she actually _felt_ the heat of that scathing fire rekindling, that lemon-bitter grudge for leaving her behind at the communication hub, and for defeating her with her own weapon. But this shared glance lasted for only an instance, for a brilliant amber glow blazed forth from the opposite end of the cavern, and Sugilite's full attention was snapped back at the Reaver, her face for once displaying shock and surprise, as opposed to hatred and conceit.

The energy blast came full-force, a locomotion of pure energy that whined so loud Pearl thought her ears were to burst at any moment. The air around it became distorted as it rammed so heedlessly towards the oblivious little boy. Sugilite had to act quickly, both she and Pearl knew, and act she did, to the best of her ability. When Sugilite hurled her stone fist into the beam, Pearl was sure that the ensuing explosion would result in the ceiling raining down on top of their heads. But even she had to gasp, in both awe and sheer horror, when the blast dissipated just inches away from Sugilite's stone fist, and in the blink of an eye the Reaver was right in front of it, snatching the thing in its angled forelegs as a mantis would its prey, and tugged at the fist hard. Sugilite went flying forward, but she was still prepared for the headbutt the Reaver tried to land on her skull; she grabbed the monster by the lower jaw with her upper mitts, and then slammed the lowermost set into the beast's unprotected gut. The monster went soaring back and crashed into the pile of gemstones that still remained, dashing the rest into every direction of its vicinity in a tidal wave of colored stones.

When twirling the rope around one of her arms, Sugilite looked down at her weapon and realized it had been severed from its stone fist amidst the stuggle. Sugilite howled all warlike, beating her fists against her chest as she cast the rope aside. _"C'mere you little bitch!"_ Sugilite charged at the monster with all the rage and raw power of a stampeding rhinoceros.

"Sugilite! Sugilite! Kick that thing's butt!" Steven cried, fists pumping in the air. At the opposite end of the cavern, the nasty fight between Sugilite and the Reaver raged on; at that moment, the Fusion had all four arms hugging the beast from behind, with the uppermost hands pulling its forelegs back. The Reaver's screeches and brays howled throughout the vastness of the cavern, every one punctuated with the mighty creature slamming its entire body with Sugilite on it into the walls. Tremors and falling debris joined the chaotic harmony of battle.

Pearl had finally rejoined with Steven; she was breathing heavily from her frantic climb to get to him. "Steven, we're going!" She urged him on with a tug of the sleeve.

Steven complied, though he still whined as he ran by her side hand-in-hand, "But I want to see Sugilite take that big guy down!"

"No you do _not!_ " Pearl and Steven passed through the mouth Sugilite had created in her entrance, dancing around the boulders and debris scattered about the area leading up to it. Purely by instinct, a cold, maternal instinct, Pearl scooped the boy into her arms and ran faster when she heard the Reaver scream, followed immediately by Sugilite howling in pain. She dared a glance over her shoulder.

Sugilite was stumbling back, her big mitt groping at her own face. "Augh!" she groaned. Sugilite pulled it away, revealing on her face a huge gash that ran from her temple, all the way down the right side of her face and crossing over a pair of eyes. There was no blood, of course; Gems don't bleed, but the pain was still there, and the rage glowering in her three remaining eyes was as clear as the snarl printed on her mug. "Those were my favorite _shades!"_ Sugilite channeled her rage into a dual punch into the Reaver's mug

It opened its beak wide and champed down on both hands before the attack could connect, but Sugilite still had two more, and as she grimaced and groaned at the pain of its clamped jaws, she used to crush the beast's head in between the two that were still free. It cried out, releasing her hands in doing so, and Sugilite used this opportunity to slam them into the beast's gut, and then smash it overhead with the upper set. The Reaver was on the floor, pushing itself up slow, weakly. "You think you're somethin'?!" Sugilite did not give the beast time to answer, for she brought her knee up for a mighty crack upon the Reaver's jaw.

"You ain't nothin' but a waste o' skin!" Sugilite dropped herself unto the monster's back, making it cry out, and grabbed a fistful of its sandy-brown plumage to tug its head closer to her; watching it bent back like that, one would be forgiven for cringing at the torture the Reaver was likely feeling in its neck. Sugilite, ugly face twisted into an even uglier snarl, said to the the beast, "And you deserve to be creamed like one," before two hands grappled the Reaver's beak. Sugilite's teeth grit and frothed and gnashed as she forced it open like the jaws of Pandora's Box; her hands quivered and trembled against the Reaver's iron-willed hindrance, veins along her forearms bulged so big they ought to burst, and her face attained an even darker shade of purple the more muscle she put in. All the while, the feathered scaly mass beneath her burly figure wreathed and fought and kicked and scraped, doing all it could to fight back. Sugilite gave it the occasional knee into the kidneys, or tightened her second pair of arms around its throat; doing so made the beast cough up some green phlegm in between howls.

When its beak was just partially opened, Sugilite saw a chance and _pressed down_ upon her foe's face. A stomach-churning _SNAP!_ cracked through the cavern like a whip, immediately followed by the Reaver screaming in its unintelligible language. Sugilite leaned one knee into its stomach, looking down at the crazed beast with contempt. "You got a purdy mouth!" she said, eyeing the Reaver's snapped maw. With two still holding the Reaver's jaws in place, a third hand plunged into its black pit of a throat with the deadly precision and quickness of a missile. Squashing flesh and bones snapping replaced its horrible song.

Pearl made sure to hug Steven's head close to her chest, to block as much sight and sound as doing so would permit. Only when a sharp _whoof_ filled the cavern, like the sound of one blowing out a candle, did Pearl and Steven gaze upon the carnage. Sugilite was walking towards them, her trademark smugness on proud display. Behind her, was nothing. No Reaver, just gemstones that scattered about the place amidst their battle.

"Alright! Sugilite!" Steven whooped in Pearl's arms. The prim and proper Gem had to allow herself a smile as well; when Sugilite did a job, she did it well.

The massive Fusion was rolling her head and shoulders as she walked, several loud pops emanating from within. She did look quite beat up, as the bruises on her face and the the scar going down it would testify, and her outfit was a tad more ripped than usual. Her lower set of arms folded across her breast, lilac skin tarnished into a dusty grey from rolling around with the Reaver, and their forearms' wide girth etched with dust and hundreds of little red cuts made it look like she was just wrangling a lion. Sugilite put a hand to her face, and much like Garnet, a bright flash materialized a new set of shades over her four eyes. The scar gashed down over a pair, now partially covered, gave Sugilite the illusion that she was crying. But the smirk on her plump lips said otherwise.

"Ain't no one better than me," she announced proudly.

Steven wriggled out of Pearl's grasp and galloped towards the Fusion, whose fifth eye was looking down right at him. "Sugilite! You were so cool! The way you charged at that guy, like _BOOM!_ That was _a-maz-ing!_ And-And when you said, _'C'mere you little bi - '"_

"O-kay, Steven! That's enough!" Pearl cut in with a nervous titter. Way above, she swore she could hear Sugilite snort and saw her eye roll, but she said nothing about it. "Sugilite, did you retrieve the Reaver's stone after besting it?"

Sugilite's tongue ran across the surface of her topmost teeth, and she was looking off to the side, giving the impression that she was deep in thought. After several seconds, she said, "Sorry, what? Stone?"

After all the terror and screaming and fighting and now this, Pearl felt her own gem was to pop off at any given moment. "The Reaver's stone, _where is it?_ " A cyan flush slowly crept up her neck.

The Fusion simply shrugged her massive shoulders. "Sorry, baby. I was too busy giving the thing a tonsil checkup to remember its stupid stone."

Pearl's eye twitched; she immediately thought of Amethyst. Steven's little voice suddenly cut in, whiny and childlike: "Aw, does this mean we gotta look around all these gems 'till we find the Reaver's?"

Pearl burst out with a lighthearted chuckle. "No, no, thankfully Steven - "

"The animals of our home planet don't got gemstones, baby. They got rocks instead, and Reavers got granite," Sugilite explained; Pearl stared daggers up at the Fusion, though she knew they wouldn't even pierce her exterior.

"That is why," Pearl continued slowly, "we need to find its stone and destroy it. So Sugilite, thank you for your assistance, but if you could split back into - "

"Wait!" Steven interrupted. "'Destroy'? We're gonna destroy it instead of bubbling?" Pearl looked upon his face, suddenly so hurt, so confused, so innocent; a gripping burn in her bosom flared when he asked, "What if we can help it, like I did with the Centipeedle?"

 _He's so much like his mother,_ Pearl thought mournfully. She walked over to Steven in just a few long strides and knelt down to his level; she put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and explained gently, "Steven, Reavers aren't like the corrupted Gems we've been fighting; they're monsters, animals acting purely by instinct and nothing more."

"Like bears?"

Pearl chuckled. "Yes," she answered, smiling warmly, "like bears. But Reavers are among the most dangerous creatures on our planet, maybe even the galaxy. There's no way to tame them, no way to understand them. All's we can do, sadly, is put it down."

Pearl was amazed that, despite being nearly killed numerous times today, Steven's face still looked stricken with hurt when realizing what must be done to the Reaver. _He really is like his mother._ "Okay, I understand," he mumbled.

An obnoxious personality cut through the silence. "Ah, c'mon Mom!" Sugilite knelt down, slowly easing herself unto her belly and propping herself up on a set of elbows so she was at eye-level with the two smaller Gems. "Let the kid keep his pet; what's the worst that could happen?"

 _He could die you lunatic!_ "Absolutely out of the question," Pearl snapped firmly. "Now Sugilite, we'll get this done much faster if you would be so kind as to split back into Garnet and Amethyst, so...please do that." Pearl couldn't ignore the anxiety writhing about in her gut; she just did not have the energy right now to drop a rock on the Fusion's head. _  
_

Sugilite rested one cheek in her hand, the other drew a big meaty finger along the stone before her. "Nah," she answered.

"Sugilite!" came Steven's voice.

The Fusion turned her massive head towards the little boy and grinned. "What's up, Steven?"

"Sugilite, can you _please_ turn back into Garnet and Amethyst?"

"Sorry, Junior. That ain't gonna fly." Already Sugilite sounded disinterested in the conversation.

Steven, however, wouldn't let her off that easily. "But I said 'please'!" he pointed in his own childish way.

Now all of a sudden, Sugilite sounded like Amethyst, playing along with the child's games. "Kid, I got nothin'," she said, throwing a hand up. "The Magic Word just don't got an effect on me; I had shots, man. I'm immune to that word. You know, science and junk. Bird-Nerd knows what I mean, right Nerdy?"

Pearl crossed her arms and scowled at the Fusion. Sugilite snickered a bit behind a close-lipped sneer; she knew just how to get under her skin.

"But Garnet and Amethyst are my friends!" Steven insisted. "Come on, Sugilite. Be cool."

"What?!" She pouted, which slunk into a nasty scowl. "You know, you're bein' a pretty lousy number one fan right now. So you'd better watch your mouth, baby, cuz I'm totally cool; cooler than you'll ever be."

"No, you're not!" Steven had the gall to snap back. "If you _were_ cool, you'd let my friends go instead of being a big jerk. Well if that's the way you want it, then _I'm_ not your number one fan anymore!" With that, Steven turned his back on the massive Gem, arms folded and face stuck in a firm grimace.

"Dude, really?" Sugilite deadpanned.

"Not talking!"

Pearl stood far back and looked on the display, her lips slightly parted but with no words coming out; she couldn't help but be hopelessly confused - were they actually fighting? Why were they speaking like a couple of good friends? When did this relationship even become established, and why would Garnet ever agree to fuse into Sugilite for anything other than a dire emergency? All these questioned race round Pearl's aching mind, to the point where she started to become a little angry at the many implications this carried.

Sugilite ran a hand through her bush of a hair. "Steven, buddy, you're killin' me over here."

Steven began to rock back and forth on his heels. "Nope! I'm never speaking to you ever again!"

The Fusion rubbed a hand across her perspiring forehead, then sighed into it deeply. "Alright Steven," she finally said. "I'll split, but only because I think you're cool."

"Thanks, Sugilite," Steven said, turning with a smile. "And I promise, next time we'll totally lift or something."

"Sounds like a date, little man," she purred. "Don't worry, I'll go slow for you, since it's your first time with me."

Steven showed no break in his smile, ignorant of the Fusion's dirty saying. But Pearl did, and she was growing increasingly annoyed by this banter. " _Sugilite_."

Sugilite thrust a giant, sugilite-crusted fingernail at her. "You, Bird-Nerd, _shove it._ " Sugilite whipped her face back to Steven and held out one massive paw to him. "'Kay Steven, I'll catch ya later."

"Later, Sugs." Steven smacked her hand with his own, which to anyone else would've looked utterly ridiculous given their size difference.

Sugilite's entire person emanated a brilliant lavender glow, then lost its shape, though an amethyst and two garnets still remained. The mass separated, and in a final burst of light Amethyst and Garnet sat where Sugilite once was.

"Guys!" Steven cried.

Garnet was the first to push herself to her feet, then she held out a hand for Amethyst and helped her up. "Good work, Steven," the taller Gem said. "You actually talked down Sugilite."

"Yes, indeed," said Pearl, approaching the group. "Steven, that was incredible! How did you do it?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders in his own Steven-y way. "I just...talked to her, I guess. I don't even know what I'm doing half the time."

 _But I do,_ Pearl thought behind a smile. She thought back on the Centipeedle, and Lapis, and now Sugilite. All of them, he only spoke to them, no violence necessary. _He really, truly is like his mother._

But from the corner of her eye, her teammates' voices becoming just muffled noise in the back of her head as she turned, Pearl saw a small figure move in the back on the cavern, sliding down what remained of the gemstone horde. Her eyes widened, and breaking into a sprint faster than a bat out of Hell Pearl called out, "After her!"

"Wha-What? Who!?" Too slow to keep up on his own, Garnet allowed Steven to hitch a ride on top of her hair.

With a skip over the stream, her swift pace unbroken, Pearl only called out, " _Another Gem!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a friggin' blast writing Sugilite.


	4. Embrace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven is embraced, in more ways than one.

_Duck, swerve, ah! Duck! Whups, crack! Hop like a bunny, Garnet!_

Steven couldn't help himself; he burst out laughing while being bounced and jerked around in the arms of his favorite Fusion. He would be having even more fun under slightly different circumstances, namely if Garnet were laughing and having fun too. He glanced up, just to see - even pumping her legs in a mad dash, Garnet's face was blank as ever. Though when he did, ever so slightly, Garnet tilted her head down to him, and quirked her lip in a subtle little smirk before returning to the path ahead.

It was curved, cramped, and dangerously dim, just barely lit by those weird blue flowers on the walls. Their target, someone who Pearl swore on the stars was another Gem, hadn't been seen since back at the Reaver's den. And Garnet was running _fast,_ the others close behind - Steven could hear Amethyst's panting echo behind them. The Gem couldn't have escaped, could she? Yet this was the only path, no splits yet. Plus, Garnet had future vision. That had to count for something, right?

Steven snuggled into her bosom. They'll find this Gem, and then maybe she'll want to come home with them!

 _The barn is gonna get pretty crowded soon,_ Steven thought. He was startled from his daydreaming by the abrupt halt of his ride.

"Blocked," Garnet grumbled. She put Steven down and placed a gauntlet-covered hand upon the stone in front of them; smooth as glass, like a door, save for a thin crevasse ripped through the middle, downwards. No way she could fit through that.

Steven noticed she was looking at it too, staring, almost like she were considering what he himself was thinking. "Maybe Ruby and Sapphire could?" he suggested.

Garnet slammed a fist against the stone. Then she did it again. Not even a scratch. "Hmph."

"Garnet? What happened?" asked Pearl, her and Amethyst squeezing through the passage behind them.

"There's this weird wall in the way," Steven explained. His eyes turned to the crevasse again. "I bet I could fit! I'll just squeeze through and see if I can unlock it from the other side!"

"Steven, no!" cried Pearl, but Steven had already whirled around, ready to dive in. He grunted suddenly when the scruff of his collar was gripped tight. His eyes turned upward, gazing into his reflection of Garnet's visor.

"Steven," she said, and the boy grew worried. "...Be careful."

Eyes slight, he gasped and nodded. Steven was prepared to get down on all fours, when he realized Garnet hadn't let go. He returned his gaze to her, his expression soft as the voice spoken to him. "I want your butt right here in front of me within twenty seconds, little one. No dallying, no running off." A small smile. "Can you promise me that?"

Steven saluted. "Yes, ma'am! Consider my butt already back!"

"That's good to hear. I take my promises very seriously, Steven."

Upon hearing that, the boy's face shone with recognition. He returned with a reassuring smile, and a thumbs up, to which Garnet reflected.

With that, Steven crawled in.

Pearl waited five seconds before making her advance. "Are you sure Steven will-"

"He'll be fine." Garnet crossed her arms.

Amethyst chuckled, dissipating her whip and leaning against the wall. "Won't even let him unlock a door, P? What'll you do when he's twenty and he's gotta lock one?" She cackled.

Pearl only growled. Garnet shook her head disapprovingly.

Twenty seconds passed. Amethyst leaned in, taking a deep breath...

"Don't yell," Pearl warned, her face twisting already.

Amethyst gazed upward with her uncovered eye, then nodded understandably. She took a deep breath. "Yo Ste-man! You fall in or what!?"

Amethyst's voice echoed sharply, and being so close to Pearl in such a small space made the skinny Gem flinch violently. " _Do you have to scream like that?!_ " she hissed. She got a muffled laugh in response.

Slowly though, Amethyst's laughs subsided into broken, quiet chuckles, until they died down completely. Her face clouded with concern. Pearl followed her gaze to the crevasse in the wall.

It was quiet as the grave.

"I'm going in there."

"Give him a minute," said Garnet.

"But Garnet!"

"You can't fit." The subtle sharpness of her tone, and the logic of it, gave Pearl pause, though her face still showed worry. Garnet added, speaking more softly, "Let him do this." Her arms folded tighter.

Pearl and Amethyst exchanged glances. "You okay, Garnet?" asked the latter.

"I'm fine," she answered immediately.

More glances were exchanged, but no words.

Not when sixty seconds passed.

Nor one-hundred and twenty.

"Dammit." Not until Garnet summoned her gauntlets. "Help me break through this."

"Garnet?" Pearl fired up her spear.

"What is it?" Amethyst shifted into Purple Puma. "What do you see?"

Garnet's fist was about to hit the wall, but froze just as the punch was about to connect. "I..." she paused. That alone startled her teammates. "I'm not sure, but I think Steven may be hurt."

* * *

"No, no, no, please... please don't, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Nessie, she didn't mean... I-I wasn't expecting..." Tears slid around the Gem's dusty-grey cheeks. "Please, don't hurt me. I'm sorry, _don't_!"

Steven couldn't move, he didn't know what else to do, or to say. He never met someone who thought _he_ was going to hurt _them._ Oh, how the tables have turned!

...and it felt awful.

"Please," Steven held up a hand, his voice at the gentlest level he could manage so that it could still be heard over the Gem's choking and sobbing, "I don't want to hurt you, none of us are. We just want to help. Really, that's like, our whole job!" He smiled hopefully, but the Gem shook her head violently.

Obsidian, that was her name. She was no taller than Steven, certainly skinnier, though not nearly as much as Pearl. The dress she wore made it hard to be certain, black with white frills like a maid's. Her black hair was tied into a long braid, which was constantly alternated between being stroked and squeezed and twisted. The gem on the back of her hand flashed with the blue lights emitted by the flowers.

So many of them covered this chamber, almost every square inch was crowded with the things. Steven almost thought the very walls were comprised of just flowers. But aside from that, there was nothing worth noting that he could see, aside from the bed of leaves Obsidian was currently cowering on.

"What are you so afraid of?" Steven asked, sitting down criss-cross. He hoped it appeared less threatening.

It seemed to have worked, at least a little - Obsidian stopped trembling, and she stopped crying. But tears still sat in her eyes and her voice trembled as she spoke. "I never wanted to be a part of the war," she explained. "I wanted to leave with the others, but now... now you're here to punish me!" She cried out before burying her face in her knees and shrieking.

Steven's eyes widened in recognition. "Wait, no, you got it all wrong! We're not Homeworld, we're-!"

" _The Crystal Gems!_ I know what you are!" Steven flinched back, startled, but as soon as he did the aggression in Obsidian's face fled, and horror crossed her freckled face again. "I'm, I'm sorry. Please, Nessie, she was all I had for so long... I don't even know how many years it's been... I had to feed her..."

"'Feed her'? What do you... Oh! You mean all those gem... stones..." Steven's energy fled him. He suddenly felt so very tired. And sick. "Obsidian... are those..."

"There's no curing the Corrupted, you know that! And Nessie, she needs to eat..." Her face twisted, tears flowed freely once more. "Yet you Crystal Gems go around, bubbling them all and prolonging their torture like some disgusting band of super heroes! You're the ones who doomed us all in the first place!" Obsidian was in hysterics. "It's just been so long since I've talked to a normal Gem, and now the first in five thousand years have come and they'll want to shatter me!"

" _NO WE'RE NOT!"_

Obsidian froze. She stopped crying. Now she only stared, with wide, wet eyes.

Steven breathed deep, then slowly opened his eyes. They shone with sympathy, and exhaustion. "I'm sorry for yelling."

"...It's okay. I'm... me too." Obsidian shuddered. "I'm... I've always been skittish," she explained. "I was never good around other Gems. That's why I was a beast-tamer, instead of a miner like the other Obsidian out there." Her fingers played and picked at the leaf bed beneath her. "I was just so scared... I saw that big fusion poof Nessie like she was nothing, I thought I'd never live to see her, or daylight, again... I'm sorry again, for freaking out."

"You're fine, don't worry about it!" Steven lifted a smile, and a shy one tried making its way across Obsidian's face. The boy's heart soared. "I'm just glad you're not trying to kill me. Most Gems usually try."

"Oh, I would never. You're too sweet." Obsidian laughed uneasily, though it cut short suddenly, and fear began to creep into her gaze once more. "What... what usually happens to them?"

"They're my friends now!"

Obsidian's eyes shone like twin stars. "Truly? That's... I'm..."

"And you could be too, if you want!"

An ashen blush crept up her cheeks. "What... What did you say your name was?"

"I'm Steven!"

"A human?" Obsidian gave a nervous titter. "Wow. What are you doing with the Crystal Gems?"

"Oh, they take care of me! My mom was a Gem, and she... well..." Sadness flashed across his face. "Well, she passed away so that I could be here. I inherited her gem, see?" He lifted his shirt to prove it.

Obsidian straightened up upon seeing it, the reddish-pink stone embedded in his naval. Her body stiffened, nails digging into the leaf-bed. "Who was your... 'mom'?"

Steven sensed the air in the room grow heavy. He looked at the black Gem warily. "If I say 'Rose Quartz', will you be mad?"

For a moment, Obsidian said nothing. Did nothing, not until started trembling, and then she answered quietly, "...Yes."

Obsidian did nothing more. She hugged her legs into her chest and gazed solemnly in the space between her feet.

"She's the reason why... I'm..." Obsidian began to weep. She buried her head, muffling her sharp sobs in her skirt.

Then she felt two arms wrap around her, and squeeze.

"I'm sorry." Steven's voice was weak. It shook as he spoke. "I'm not her, but I'm sorry about what happened to you, about your friends, about... everything. I'm sorry."

Obsidian cried harder. "I know." She moved to wrap her arms around him, and squeezed. "It wasn't her fault, she protected humans the way a mother would. The way I'd protect Nessie." She sobbed harder her body wracking. "She was a beautiful Gem, I just hope I could be as wonderful as her."

Steven pulled away, his eyes wet with tears but a small smile graced his soft features. "I think you are. You could be, you could start again, with us."

Obsidian said nothing, but stared. Then she pulled him in again. "I don't think so," she said.

For a moment, neither said a word. They merely held one another in each other's arms. Then Obsidian asked, "You're a hybrid, then?"

Steven nodded against her bosom. "Something like that." He chuckled quietly.

"So you're a Gem... but you don't have a body of compressed light?" Steven made a confused noise. "You have organic parts, like a human?"

"Oh! Yeah... I still need to eat, and do all that human stuff. Amethyst likes doing that stuff sometimes though, and Garnet too."

Obsidian hummed in response, and the two fell into silence once more. As the seconds ticked by, the black gem laid her head on top of the boy's keeping an eye on the magical door that led into her chamber.

Moments later, a rumble was felt. And a spiderweb of cracks began to surface upon it. Obsidian tensed, holding the boy Gem tighter. That earned her a reassuring snuggle, Steven believing it an act of affection or fear.

"It's okay," he said quietly, before Obsidian could get a word out.

"I'm sorry," she said anyway. "I'm sorry, Steven. You're too kind, and you aren't to blame for what happened to us..."

The threshold exploded, debris along with three Gems flying in.

"...But they are. And they should be punished."

In half a heartbeat, Obsidian drew from her gem a dagger. Swiftly the blade soared, black and glimmering and shimmering, straight into the gut of Steven Quartz Universe.

The boy made a choking sound, lurching forward, his hands feebly gripping the fabric of Obsidian's skirt tight. With tears in her eyes she shoved him back, hard, his eyes still wide and uncomprehending as he hit the ground, dagger's coiled hilt erected beside his rose quartz stone.

_**"STEVEN!"** _

Three voices cried as one, but Pearl's was the loudest, most heartbroken of all. She shrieked and gasped hysterically as she slid over to Steven's side, forgoing her spear and propping his head on her lap.

Garnet lunged for Obsidian, and a shatter, like glass, cut through the ensuing poof that followed her vanishing.

Amethyst stayed rooted where she stood, her eyes wide and uncomprehending. She was the only Gem to still have her weapon out.

"Guys..." Steven clenched feebly at his stomach. A red stain, darker than that of his shirt, began to blossom from where the dagger lied embedded.

Pearl could say nothing, except his own name. She could only look into his eyes, her own wide and brimming with tears. Her fingers clenched the curls of his hair tight, uncaring if they were hurting him.

"Guys..." His voice was a whisper, weak. By some miracle, Steven managed a smile, albeit forced against the grimace trying to dominate his features. "Happen at some point... Don't worry about it, everything'll be a-oka-"

_POOF!_

In a cloud of pink dust, his body vanished, as did Obsidian's dagger, leaving behind a Rose Quartz gemstone which Garnet snatched before it could hit the ground.


End file.
